Guidance device for the sensory impaired

ABSTRACT

Sensor data is obtained regarding an environment around a guidance device. A model of the environment is generated based on the data. The model is mapped at least to an input/output touch surface of the guidance device. Tactile output is provided to a user of the guidance device via the input/output touch surface based at least on the mapping. Other output based on the model may also be provided. The guidance device may include a variety of different components such as sensors that obtain data regarding the environment, input/output mechanisms for receiving input from and/or providing input to the user, processing units and/or other components for generating the model and/or mapping the model to various input/output mechanisms, and so on. Additionally, the guidance device may cooperate and/or communicate with a variety of different electronic devices that have one or more such components in order to perform such functions.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate generally to guidance devices. Moreparticularly, the present embodiments relate to guidance devices for thesensory impaired.

BACKGROUND

People use a variety of senses to navigate and interact with the variousenvironments they encounter on a daily basis. For example, people usetheir senses of sight and sound to navigate in their homes, on thestreet, through workplaces and shopping centers, and so on. Suchenvironments may be designed and configured under the assumption thatpeople will be able to use senses such as sight and sound fornavigation.

However, many people are sensory impaired in one way or another. Peoplemay be deaf or at least partially auditorily impaired, blind or at leastpartially visually impaired, and so on. By way of example, the WorldHealth Organization estimated in April of 2012 that 285 million peoplewere visually impaired. Of these 285 million people, 246 million wereestimated as having low vision and 39 million were estimated to beblind. Navigation through environments designed and configured for thoselacking sensory impairment may be challenging or difficult for thesensory impaired.

Some sensory impaired people use guidance devices or relationships toassist them in navigating and interacting with their environments. Forexample, some blind people may use a cane in order to navigate andinteract with an environment. Others may use a guide animal.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to guidance devices for sensory impairedusers. Sensor data may be obtained regarding an environment. A model ofthe environment may be generated and the model may be mapped at least toan input/output touch surface. Tactile output and/or other output may beprovided to a user based at least on the mapping. In this way, a sensoryimpaired user may be able to navigate and/or interact with anenvironment utilizing the guidance device.

In various embodiments, a guidance device for a sensory impaired usermay include an input/output touch surface, a sensor data component thatobtains data regarding an environment around the guidance device, and aprocessing unit coupled to the input/output touch surface and the sensordata component. The processing unit may generate a model of theenvironment based at least on the data, map the model to theinput/output touch surface and provide tactile output to a user based atleast on the mapping via the input/output touch surface.

In some examples, the tactile output may be an arrangement of raisedportions of the input/output touch surface or other tactile feedbackconfigured to produce a tactile sensation of bumps.

In various examples, the tactile output may include a representation ofan object in the environment and a region of the input/output touchsurface where the representation is provided may correspond topositional information regarding the object. The positional informationregarding the object corresponding to the region may be first positionalinformation when the tactile output includes a first positionalinformation context indicator and second positional information when thetactile output includes a second positional information contextindicator. The shape of the representation may be associated with adetected shape of the object.

In some examples, the sensor data component may receive at least aportion of the data from another electronic device.

In various examples, the processing unit may provide at least one audionotification based at least on the model via an audio component of theguidance device or another electronic device.

In some embodiments, an assistance device for a sensory impaired usermay include a surface operable to detect touch and provide tactileoutput, a sensor that detects information about an environment, and aprocessing unit coupled to the surface and the sensor. The processingunit may determine a portion of the surface being touched, select asubset of the information for output, and provide the tactile output toa user corresponding to the subset of the information via the portion ofthe surface.

In some examples, the sensor may detect orientation informationregarding the assistance device and the processing unit may provide thetactile output via the portion of the surface according to theorientation information. In various examples, the sensor may detectlocation information regarding the assistance device and the tactileoutput may include a direction indication associated with navigation toa destination.

In some examples, the tactile output may include an indication of aheight of an object in the environment. In various examples, the tactileoutput may include an indication that the object is traveling in acourse that will connect with a user (which may be determined using realtime calculations). In some examples, the tactile output may include anindication that the user is approaching the object and the object isbelow a head height of the user.

In various examples, the tactile output may include a firstrepresentation of a first object located in a direction of travel of theassistance device and a second representation of a second object locatedin an opposite direction of the direction of travel. In some examples,the wherein the tactile output may include a representation of an objectin the environment and a texture of the representation may be associatedwith a detected texture of the object. In various examples, regions ofthe portion of the surface where the first representation and the secondrepresentation are provided may indicate that the first object islocated in the direction of travel and the second object is located inthe opposite direction of the direction of travel.

In some examples, the processing unit may provide an audio notificationvia an audio component upon determining that the assistance deviceexperiences a fall event during use.

In various embodiments, an environmental exploration device may includea cylindrical housing, a processing unit located within the cylindricalhousing, a touch sensing device coupled to the processing unit andpositioned over the cylindrical housing, a haptic device (such as one ormore piezoelectric cells) coupled to the processing unit and positionedadjacent to the touch sensing device, and an image sensor coupled to theprocessing unit that detects image data about an area around thecylindrical housing. The processing unit may analyze the image datausing image recognition to identify an object (and/or analyze data fromone or more depth sensors to determine distance to and/or speed ofmoving objects), creates an output image representing the object andpositional information regarding the object in the area, map the outputimage to the haptic device; and provide the output image as tactileoutput to a user via the haptic device.

In some examples, the processing unit may provide an audio descriptionof the object and the positional information via an audio component. Invarious examples, the processing unit may determine details of a hand ofthe user that is touching the touch sensing device and map the outputimage to the haptic device in accordance with whether the hand is a lefthand of the user, a right hand of the user, has a large palm size, has asmall palm size, has less than four fingers, or does not have a thumb.

In various examples, the environmental exploration device may alsoinclude a weight component coupled to the cylindrical housing operableto alter an orientation of the environmental exploration device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 shows a user navigating an example environment using a guidancedevice.

FIG. 2 shows the user navigating another example environment using theguidance device.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart illustrating a method for providing guidanceusing a guidance device.

FIG. 4A shows an isometric view of an example guidance device.

FIG. 4B shows a block diagram illustrating functional relationships ofexample components of the guidance device of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C shows a diagram illustrating an example configuration of theinput/output touch surface of the guidance device of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view of the example guidance device ofFIG. 4A, taken along line A-A of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5B shows a cross-sectional view of another example of the guidancedevice of FIG. 4A in accordance with further embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6A shows a diagram illustrating an example of how a model of anenvironment generated based on environmental data may be mapped to theinput/output touch surface of the guidance device of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6B shows a diagram illustrating another example of how a model ofan environment generated based on environmental data may be mapped tothe input/output touch surface of the guidance device of FIG. 5A.

FIGS. 7-10 show additional examples of guidance devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to representative embodimentsillustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood thatthe following descriptions are not intended to limit the embodiments toone preferred embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to coveralternatives, modifications, and equivalents as can be included withinthe spirit and scope of the described embodiments as defined by theappended claims.

Embodiments described herein may permit a sensory-impaired user toquickly and efficiently interact with his or her environment.Sensory-impaired users may use a device which provides guidance to theuser that communicate information about the environment to aid theuser's interaction therewith. The device may detect information aboutthe environment, model the environment based on the information, andpresent guidance output based on the model in a fashion detectable bythe user. Such guidance output may be tactile so the user can quicklyand efficiently “feel” the guidance output while interacting with theenvironment. This device may enable the sensory-impaired user to morequickly and efficiently interact with his or her environment than ispossible with existing sensory-impaired guidance devices such as canes.

The present disclosure relates to guidance devices for sensory impairedusers. Sensor data may be obtained regarding an environment around aguidance device, assistance device, environmental exploration device,an/or other such device. A model of the environment may be generatedbased on the data. The model may be mapped at least to an input/outputtouch surface of the guidance device. Tactile output may be provided toa user of the guidance device via the input/output touch surface basedat least on the mapping. Other output based on the model may also beprovided. In this way, a sensory impaired user may be able to navigateand/or interact with an environment utilizing the guidance device. Sucha guidance device may provide better assistance than and/or take theplace of a cane, a guidance animal, and/or other guidance devices and/orrelationships.

The guidance device may include a variety of different components suchas sensors that obtain data regarding the environment, input/outputmechanisms for receiving input from and/or providing input to the user,processing units and/or other components for generating the model and/ormapping the model to various input/output mechanisms, and so on.Additionally, the guidance device may cooperate and/or communicate witha variety of different electronic devices that have one or more suchcomponents in order to perform one or more of these functions.

These and other embodiments are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-10. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these Figures is forexplanatory purposes only and should not be construed as limiting.

FIG. 1 shows a user 102 navigating an example environment 100 using aguidance device 101, assistance device, environmental explorationdevice, an/or other such device. A guidance device 101 may be a devicethat detects information about the user's environment 100 and presentsthat information to the user to aid the user's 102 interaction with theenvironment 100.

As illustrated, the user 102 is holding the guidance device 101 in ahand 103 while walking down a street. The user 102 also is wearing awearable device 109 and has a smart phone 108 in the user's pocket. Atraffic signal 106 and a moving truck 107 are in front of the user 102and another person 104 looking at a cellular telephone 105 is walkingbehind the user 102. The user 102 may be receiving tactile, audio,and/or other guidance output related to the environment 100 from theguidance device 101 (which may detect information regarding theenvironment 100 upon which the guidance output may be based) and/or thesmart phone 108 and/or wearable device 109. For example, the user 102may be receiving output that the user 102 is approaching the trafficsignal 106, the truck 107 is approaching the user 102, the other person104 is approaching the user 102 from behind, and so on. As illustrated,one or more of the shown devices may be wired and/or wirelesslytransmitting and/or receiving in order to communicate with one or moreof each other. Such devices may communicate with each other in order toobtain environmental or other sensor data regarding the environment,generate a model based on the sensor data, and provide the guidanceoutput to the user 102 based on the model.

Although FIG. 1 is illustrated as providing tactile guidance output tothe hand 103 of the user 102, it is understood that this is an example.In various implementations, tactile guidance output may be provided tovarious different parts of a user's body, such as a shirt made of afabric configured to provide tactile output.

Similarly, FIG. 2 shows the user 102 navigating another exampleenvironment 200 using the guidance device 101. As illustrated, the user102 is holding the guidance device 101 (which may detect informationregarding the environment 200 upon which the guidance output may bebased) in the user's hand 103 while walking through a room in a house.The room has a display screen 208 connected to a communication adapter209 on a wall and a navigation beacon 206 on a table. Another person 204looking at a smart phone 205 is also in the room. As illustrated, one ormore of the devices, may be transmitting and/or receiving in order tocommunicate with one or more of each other. The user 102 may bereceiving tactile, audio, and/or other guidance output related to theenvironment 200 from the guidance device 101. For example, the user 102may be receiving tactile output of the layout of the room based on a mapprovided by the navigation beacon 206. By way of another example, theuser 102 may be receiving tactile and/or audio direction indicationsassociated with navigation from the user's 102 current location in theenvironment 200 to a destination input by the other person 204 on thesmart phone 205, the guidance device 101, and/or the display screen 208.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for providingguidance using a guidance device. By way of example, such a guidancedevice may be one or more of the guidance devices 101, 501, 601, 701, or801 illustrated and described herein with respect to FIGS. 1, 2, and4-10.

At 310, environmental or other sensor data may be obtained regarding anenvironment around a guidance device. The environmental data may beobtained from a variety of different kind of sensors or other sensordata components such as image sensors (such as cameras,three-dimensional cameras, infra-red image sensors, lasers, ambientlight detectors, and so on), positional sensors (such as accelerometers,gyroscopes, magnetometers, and so on), navigations systems (such as aglobal positioning system or other such system), depth sensors,microphones, temperature sensors, Hall effect sensors, and so on. Insome implementations, one or more such sensors may be incorporated intothe guidance device. In other implementations, one or more such sensorsmay be components of other electronic devices and the sensor of theguidance device may be a communication component that receivesenvironmental data from such other sensors transmitted from anotherelectronic device (which may communicate with the guidance device in oneor more client/server configurations, peer-to-peer configurations, meshconfigurations, and/or other communication network configurations). Suchsensors may obtain environmental data regarding any aspect of anenvironment such as the presence and/or position of objects, themovement of objects, weather conditions, textures, temperatures, and/orany other information about the environment.

At 320, a model of the environment may be generated for guidance outputbased at least on the environmental data. As even the smallestenvironment may contain too much information to output or output in sucha way that a user can make sense of it, the model may include a subsetof the obtained environmental data. The environmental data may beprocessed in order to determine which of the environmental data isrelevant enough to the user to be included in the model. Such processingmay include image or object recognition and/or other analysis ofenvironmental data. For example, an environment may contain a number ofobjects, but only the objects directly in front of, to the sides, and/orbehind a user and/or particularly dangerous objects such as movingautomobiles may be included in a model.

In some cases, the determination of whether to include environmentaldata in the model may be dependent on a current state of one or moreoutput devices that will be used to present guidance output data for themodel. For example, an input/output touch surface may be used to providetactile output via a currently touched area. When a larger area of theinput/output touch surface is being touched, more environmental data maybe included in the generated model. Conversely, when a smaller area ofthe input/output touch surface is being touched, less environmental datamay be included in the generated model.

The guidance device may generate the model. However, in various casesthe guidance device may cooperate with one or more other electronicdevices communicably connected (such as in various client/serverconfigurations, peer-to-peer configurations, mesh configurations, and/orother communication network configurations) to the guidance device inorder to generate the model. For example, the guidance device maygenerate the model by receiving a model generated by another device. Byway of another example, another device may process the environmentaldata and provide the guidance device an intermediate subset of theenvironmental data which the guidance device then uses to generate themodel.

At 330, guidance output based at least on the model may be provided.Such guidance output may be tactile output (such as shapes of objects,indications of positions or motions of objects, and so on), audio output(such as audio notifications related to and/or descriptions of objectsor conditions in the environment and so on), and/or any other kind ofoutput. Providing guidance output based on the model may include mappingthe model to one or more output devices and providing the guidanceoutput based at least on the mapping via the output device(s).

For example, an input/output touch surface may be used to providetactile guidance output via an area currently being touched by a user'shand. The area currently being touched by the user's hand may bedetermined along with the orientation of the user's hand touching thearea and the model may be mapped to the determined area and orientation.Tactile output may then be provided via the input/output touch surfaceaccording to the mapping. In such a case, the tactile output may bemapped in such a way as to convey shapes and/or textures of one or moreobjects, information about objects (such as position in the environment,distance, movement, speed of movement, and/or any other suchinformation) via the position on the input/output touch surface (such aswhere the output is provided in relation to various portions of theuser's hand) and/or other contextual indicators presented via theinput/output touch surface, and/or other such information about theenvironment.

By mapping guidance output to the area currently being touched by auser's hand, power savings may be achieved as output may not be providedvia areas of the input/output touch surface that are not capable ofbeing felt by a user. Further, mapping guidance output to the areacurrently being touched by a user's hand, assistance may be provided tothe user to ensure that the output is provided to portions of the user'shand as expected by the user as opposed to making the user discover howto touch the guidance device in a particular manner.

In some implementations, determination of the area currently beingtouched by a user's hand may include determining details about theuser's hand and the guidance output may be mapped according to suchdetails. For example, the details may include that the hand is a lefthand of the user, a right hand of the user, has a large palm size, has asmall palm size, has less than four fingers, or does not have a thumb.

The guidance device may provide the guidance output via one or moreoutput components of the guidance device such as one or moreinput/output touch surface, speakers, and/or other output devices.However, in some cases the guidance device may cooperate with one ormore other electronic devices communicably connected (such as in variousclient/server configurations, peer-to-peer configurations, meshconfigurations, and/or other communication network configurations) toprovide one or more kinds of output.

For example, a guidance device may provide a pattern of raised bumps orother such protrusions to indicate objects in the environment, theidentity of the objects, the position of those objects, and the distanceof those objects to the user. A wearable device on the user's wrist mayalso provide vibration output to indicate that one or more of theobjects are moving towards the user. Further, the user's cellulartelephone may output audio directions associated with navigation of theuser from the user's current location (such current location informationmay be detected by one or more sensors such as a global positioningsystem or other navigation component) to a destination.

Although the example method 300 is illustrated and described asincluding particular operations performed in a particular order, it isunderstood that this is an example. In various implementations, variousorders of the same, similar, and/or different operations may beperformed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

For example, although the method 300 is illustrated and described asgenerating a model based on the environmental data and providingguidance output based on the model, it is understood that this is anexample. In some implementations, guidance output may be provided basedon environmental data without generating a model. In one example of sucha scenario, the guidance device may detect that the guidance device washeld and then dropped using one or more positional sensors, input/outputtouch surface, and/or other such components. In such a case, theguidance device may emit an audio alarm upon such detection withoutgeneration of a model to aid a user in locating the dropped guidancedevice.

FIG. 4A shows an isometric view of an example guidance device 101. Theguidance device 101 may include a cylindrical housing 410 that may beformed of aluminum, plastic, and/or any other suitable material. Aninput/output touch surface 411 may be disposed on a surface of thecylindrical housing 410. The input/output touch surface 411 may beoperable to detect touch input (such as touch, force, pressure and so onvia one or more capacitive sensors, touch sensors, and/or any other kindof touch and/or force sensors). The input/output touch surface 411 mayalso be operable to provide tactile output, such as one or more patternsof vibrations, raised bumps or other protrusions, and so on. Forexample, the input/output touch surface 411 may include one or morepiezoelectric cells that can be electrically manipulated to create oneor more patterns of raised bumps on the input/output touch surface 411.

The guidance device 101 may also include image sensors 413 and 414. Theimage sensors 413 and 414 may be any kind of image sensors such as oneor more cameras, three dimensional cameras, infra-red image sensors,lasers, ambient light detectors, and so on.

The guidance device 101 may also include one or more protectors 412 thatmay prevent the input/output touch surface 411 from contacting surfaceswith which the guidance device 101 comes into contact. The protectors412 may be formed of rubber, silicone, plastic, and/or any othersuitable material. As illustrated, the protectors 412 may be configuredas rings. In such a case, the guidance device 101 may include one ormore weights and/or other orientation elements (discussed further below)to prevent the guidance device 101 from rolling when placed on asurface. However, in other cases the protectors 412 may be shaped inother configurations (such as with a flat bottom) to prevent rolling ofthe guidance device 101 on a surface without use of a weight or otherorientation element.

As shown, the cylindrical housing 410 is shaped such that it may be heldin any number of different orientations. To accommodate for suchdifferent holding orientations, the guidance device 101 may utilize theinput/output touch surface 411, one or more position sensors, and/orother components to detect orientation information regarding theorientation in which the guidance device 101 is being held in order tomap output to output devices such as the input/output touch surface 411accordingly. However, in other implementations the guidance device 101may have a housing shaped to be held in a particular manner, such aswhere a housing is configured with a grip that conforms to a user's handin a particular orientation. In such an implementation, detection of howthe guidance device 101 is being held may be omitted while stillallowing the guidance device 101 to correctly map output to outputdevices such as the input/output touch surface 411.

In some cases, the guidance device 101 may be configured to operate in aparticular orientation. For example, the image sensor 413 may beconfigured as a front image sensor and the image sensor 414 may beconfigured as a rear image sensor. This may simplify analysis ofenvironmental and/or sensor data from the image sensors 413 and 414.This may also allow for particular configurations of the image sensors413 and 414, such as where the image sensor 413 is a wider angle imagesensor than the image sensor 414 as a user may be more concerned withobjects in front of the user than behind.

However, in other cases the guidance device 101 may be configurable tooperate in a variety of orientations. For example, the image sensors 413and 414 may be identical and the guidance device 101 may use the imagesensors 413 and 414 based on a currently detected orientation (which maybe based on detection by input/output touch surface 411, one or morepositional sensors, and/or other such components).

FIG. 4B shows a block diagram illustrating functional relationships ofexample components of the guidance device 101 of FIG. 4A. As shown, invarious example implementations the guidance device 101 may include oneor more processing units 424, batteries 423, communication units 425,positional sensors 426, speakers 427, microphones 428, navigationsystems 429, image sensors 413 and 414, tactile input/output surfaces411, and so on. The guidance device 101 may also include one or moreadditional components not shown, such as one or more non-transitorystorage media (which may take the form of, but is not limited to, amagnetic storage medium; optical storage medium; magneto-optical storagemedium; read only memory; random access memory; erasable programmablememory; flash memory; and so on).

The processing unit 424 may be configured such that the guidance device101 is able to perform a variety of different functions. One suchexample may be the method 300 illustrated and described above withrespect to FIG. 3. The processing unit 424 may also be configured suchthat the guidance device 101 is able to receive a variety of differentinput and/or provide a variety of different output. For example, theguidance device 101 may be operable to receive input via thecommunication unit 425, the positional sensors 426 (such as by shakingor other motion of the guidance device 101), the microphone 428 (such asvoice or other audio commands), the tactile input/output touch surface411, and so on. By way of another example, the guidance device 101 maybe operable to provide output via the communication unit 425, speaker427 (such as speech or other audio output), the tactile input/outputtouch surface 411, and so on.

The tactile input/output touch surface 411 may be configured in avariety of different ways in a variety of different implementations suchthat it is operable to detect touch (or force, pressure, and so on)and/or provide tactile output. In some implementations, the tactileinput/output touch surface 411 may include touch sensing device layerand a haptic device layer. Such touch sensing device and a haptic devicelayers may be positioned adjacent to each other.

For example, FIG. 4C shows a diagram illustrating an exampleconfiguration of the input/output touch surface 411. As shown, theinput/output touch surface 411 may be positioned on the housing 410. Theinput/output touch surface 411 may include a number of layers such as atactile feedback layer 411B (such as piezoelectric cells, vibrationactuators, and so on) and a touch layer 411C (such as a capacitive touchsensing layer, a resistive touch sensing layer, and so on). Theinput/output touch surface 411 may also include a coating 411A (whichmay be formed of plastic or other material that may be more flexiblethan materials such as glass), which may function to protect theinput/output touch surface 411.

As shown, in some implementations the input/output touch surface 411 mayinclude a display layer 411D. A vision impaired user may not becompletely blind and as such visual output may be presented to him viathe display layer 411D. Further, in some cases visual output may bepresented via the display layer 411D to another person who is assistingthe user of the guidance device 101, such as where the other person isbeing presented visual output so the other person can input adestination for the user to which the guidance device 101 may then guidethe user.

In some implementations, such as implementations where the display layer411D is a display that utilizes a backlight, the input/output touchsurface 411 may include a backlight layer 411E.

In various implementations, the input/output touch surface 411 (and/orother components of the guidance device 101) may be operable to detectone or more biometrics of the user, such as a fingerprint, palm printand so on. For example, a user's fingerprint may be detected using acapacitive or other touch sensing device of the input/output touchsurface 411.

Such a biometric may be used to authenticate the user. In somesituations, entering a password or other authentication mechanism may bemore difficult for a sensory impaired user than for other users. In sucha situation, using a detected biometric for authentication purposes maymake authentication processes easier for the user.

FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view of the example guidance device 101of FIG. 4A, taken along line A-A of FIG. 4A. As illustrated, theguidance device 101 may include a printed circuit board 521 (and/orother electronic module) with one or more connected electroniccomponents 522 disposed on one or more surfaces thereon. Such electroniccomponents 522 may include one or more processing units, wired and/orwireless communication units, positional sensors, input/output units(such as one or more cameras, speakers or other audio components,microphones, and so on) navigation systems, and/or any other electroniccomponent. The printed circuit board 521 may be electrically connectedto the input/output touch surface 411, the image sensors 413 and 414,one or more batteries 423 and/or other power sources, and so on.

As illustrated, the battery 423 may be configured as a weight at a“bottom” of the guidance device 101. This may operate to orient theguidance device 101 as shown when the guidance device 101 is resting ona surface instead of being held by a user. As such, the battery 423 mayprevent the guidance device 101 from rolling.

Although FIG. 5A illustrates a particular configuration of components,it is understood that this is an example. In other implementations ofthe guidance device 101, other configurations of the same, similar,and/or different components are possible without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

For example, in one implementation of the guidance device 101 of FIG.5A, the image sensor 413 may be a wide angle image sensor configured asa front image sensor. However, in another implementation shown in FIG.5B, image sensor 413 may be a narrow angle image sensor configured as afront image sensor. To compensate for the narrow angle of the imagesensor 413, one or more additional image sensors 530 may be used.

As shown in this example, the additional image sensor 530 may be locatedat a bottom corner of the cylindrical housing 410. The additional imagesensor 530 may be maneuverable via a motor 531 and/or other movementmechanism. In this example, the additional image sensor 530 may berotatable via the motor 531 such that it can be operated to obtain imagesensor data of an area around the user's feet in order to compensate fora narrow angle image sensor used for the image sensor 413. In otherexamples, a similar image sensor/motor mechanism may be located at a topcorner of the cylindrical housing 410 in order to obtain image sensordata of an area above the user's head.

By way of another example, in various implementations, one or more endsof the cylindrical housing 410 may be configured with flanges and/orother structures that project from the ends of the cylindrical housing410. Such flanges and/or other structures may protect the image sensors413 and/or 414 from damage.

FIG. 6A shows a diagram illustrating an example 600A of how a model ofan environment generated based on environmental data may be mapped tothe input/output touch surface 411 of the guidance device of FIG. 5A.For purposes of clarity, the input/output touch surface 411 is shown asunrolled and is marked to indicate what the guidance device 101 may havedetected as the top and front of the input/output touch surface 411 isbased on a current orientation in which a user is holding the guidancedevice 101. The hand 641 indicates an area of the input/output touchsurface 411 where a user's hand has been detected as currently touchingthe input/output touch surface 411. In this example, the input/outputtouch surface 411 is providing tactile output indicating informationabout a model generated based on environmental data regarding theenvironment 100 shown in FIG. 1.

The input/output touch surface 411 may include a number of bumps thatcan be raised or not to indicate input, such as via piezoelectric cells.As illustrated, filled bumps indicate raised bumps and unfilled bumpsindicate bumps that are not raised.

The input/output touch surface 411 may provide tactile output via theraised bumps to indicate shapes or textures of objects in theenvironment. For example, the raised bumps 644 indicate the shape of thetruck 107 in the environment 100 of FIG. 1 and the raised bumps 645indicate the shape of the traffic signal 106 in the environment 100 ofFIG. 1. The user may be able to feel the shapes of the raised bumps 644and 645 and understand that the truck 107 and traffic signal 106 arepresent.

The region in which tactile output is provided on the input/output touchsurface 411 via the raised bumps may correspond to positionalinformation regarding objects in the environment. Further, therelationships between raised bumps in various regions may correspond torelationships in the positions of the corresponding objects in theenvironment. For example, the raised bumps 645 are illustrated asfurther to the left on the input/output touch surface 411 than theraised bumps 644. This may correspond to the fact that the trafficsignal 106 is closer to the user 102 in the environment 100 of FIG. 1than the truck 107.

The tactile output may also include a variety of different contextindicators. As described above the regions in which tactile output isprovided on the input/output touch surface 411 via the raised bumps maycorrespond to positional information regarding objects in theenvironment. However, in some implementations the positional informationindicated by the regions may be dependent on a context indicatorpresented via tactile output via the input/output touch surface 411and/or otherwise presented, such as where the positional information isfirst positional information when a first positional context indicatoris provided and is second positional information when a secondpositional context indicator is provided.

For example, FIG. 6A illustrates a series of ranges “Range 1,” “Range2,” and “Range 3.” Each range maps an area of the input/output touchsurface 411 touched by the user's hand as indicate by the hand 641 to adistance range. As illustrated, range 1 maps the pinky finger of thehand 641 to a distance of 0 meters, the ring finger to a distance of 1meter, and the middle finger to a distance of 3 meters. Range 2 maps thepinky finger of the hand 641 to a distance of 0 meters, the ring fingerto a distance of 10 meters, and the middle finger to a distance of 30meters. Range 3 maps the pinky finger of the hand 641 to a distance of 0meters, the ring finger to a distance of 100 meters, and the middlefinger to a distance of 300 meters. Regions 642A-C may be range contextindicators that indicate via tactile output which of the ranges is beingcurrently presented. In this example, 642A may indicate Range 1, 642Bmay indicate Range 2, and 643C may indicate Range 3. By making theinterpretation of information corresponding to region dependent on suchcontent indicators, a wider variety of information may be presented viathe input/output touch surface 411 while still being comprehensible to auser.

As shown, a bump is raised for 642A. This indicates in this example thatRange 1 is currently being used. Thus, the traffic signal 106 isindicated by the raised bumps 645 as being 2 meters from the user andthe truck 107 is indicated by the raised bumps 644 as being 3 metersfrom the user.

In various implementations, a variety of other kind of information maybe presented. For example, the raised bump(s) of the regions 642A-Cindicating the range current being used may be alternatingly raised andlowered to create the sensation that the context indicator is being“flashed.” This may indicate that one or more of the objects are moving.In some implementations the raised bumps 644 and/or 645 may be similarlyraised and lowered to create the sensation of flashing to indicate thatthe respective object is moving. In some cases, the speed of theflashing may correspond to the speed of the movement.

By way of another example, a zone 643 may present tactile output relatedto one or more alerts to which the user's attention is speciallydirected. In some cases, the zone 643 may present indications of objectsabove the user's head, objects at the user's feet, the height of anobject in the environment, the fact that that an object is traveling ina course that will connect with a user (which may be determined usingreal time calculations), the fact that the user is approaching theobject and the object is below a head height of the user, and so on. Inother cases, other alerts may be provided via the zone 643, such asraising and lowering bumps in the zone 643 to indicate that an object ismoving toward the user at high speed. Various configurations arepossible and contemplated without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Although this example illustrates objects that are in front of the userwithout illustrating objects that are behind the user, it is understoodthat this is an example and that various depictions of an environmentmay be presented. For example, in some implementations one portion ofthe input/output touch surface 411 may correspond to objects located inthe user's direction of travel while another portion corresponds toobjects located in the opposite direction.

FIG. 6B shows a diagram illustrating another example 600B of how a modelof an environment generated based on environmental data may be mapped tothe input/output touch surface 411 of the guidance device 101 of FIG.5A. In this example, an area 646 of the input/output touch surface 411may provide tactile output related to detected speech in an environment.For example, a microphone or other sound component of the guidancedevice 101 may be used to detect one or more words spoken in theenvironment. The guidance device 101 may perform voice to text speechrecognition on the detected spoken words and provide a tactile outputpresenting the text in the area 646. For example, as illustrated thedetected speech may be presented in braille via raised bumps in the area646.

FIG. 7 shows an additional example of a guidance device 701. Theguidance device 701 may be a smart phone with a housing 710, one or morecameras 713 or other sensors, an input/output touch display screensurface 711 (that may include a touch sensing device to detect touch anda haptic device to provide tactile output), and/or various othercomponents. The smart phone may provide guidance to a user by performinga method such as the method 300 illustrated and described above. A usermay place a hand on the input/output touch display screen surface 711 inorder to feel tactile output related to guidance.

FIG. 8 shows another example of a guidance device 801. The guidancedevice 801 may be a tablet computing device. Similar to the smart phoneof FIG. 7, the tablet computing device may include a housing 810, one ormore cameras 813 or other sensors, an input/output touch display screensurface 811, and/or various other components. The tablet computingdevice may provide guidance to a user by performing a method such as themethod 300 illustrated and described above. As the input/output touchdisplay screen surface 811 is larger than the input/output touch displayscreen surface 711, placement of a hand on the input/output touchdisplay screen surface 811 in order to receive tactile output related toguidance may be more comfortable and may be capable of providing moretactile information than the guidance device 701.

FIG. 9 shows yet another example of a guidance device 901. The guidancedevice 901 may be an item of apparel. Similar to the smart phone of FIG.7 and the tablet computing device of FIG. 8, the item of apparel mayinclude a housing 910, one or more cameras 913 or other sensors, aninput/output touch surface 911, and/or various other components. Theitem of apparel may provide guidance to a user by performing a methodsuch as the method 300 illustrated and described above. As shown, theinput/output touch surface 911 may be in contact with a user's back whenthe item of apparel is worn. Thus, the user may feel tactile outputrelated to guidance provided by the item of apparel without other peoplebeing able to visibly detect that the user is receiving guidance.

FIG. 10 shows still another example of a guidance device 1001. Theguidance device 1001 may be a smart watch and/or other wearable device.Similar to the smart phone of FIG. 7, the tablet computing device ofFIG. 8, and the item of apparel of FIG. 9, the smart watch may include ahousing 1010, one or more cameras 1013 or other sensors, an input/outputtouch surface 1011, and/or various other components. The smart watch mayprovide guidance to a user by performing a method such as the method 300illustrated and described above. As shown, the input/output touchsurface 1011 may be in contact with a user's wrist when the smart watchis attached. Thus, the user may feel tactile output related to guidanceprovided by the smart watch in a hands free manner.

As described above and illustrated in the accompanying figures, thepresent disclosure relates to guidance devices for sensory impairedusers. Sensor data may be obtained regarding an environment around aguidance device, assistance device, environmental exploration device,an/or other such device. A model of the environment may be generatedbased on the data. The model may be mapped at least to an input/outputtouch surface of the guidance device. Tactile output may be provided toa user of the guidance device via the input/output touch surface basedat least on the mapping. Other output based on the model may also beprovided. In this way, a sensory impaired user may be able to navigateand/or interact with an environment utilizing the guidance device. Sucha guidance device may provide better assistance than and/or take theplace of a cane, a guidance animal, and/or other guidance devices and/orrelationships.

The described disclosure may be provided as a computer program product,or software, that may include a non-transitory machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program acomputer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a processaccording to the present disclosure. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g.,software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). The non-transitory machine-readable medium may take the formof, but is not limited to, a magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppydiskette, video cassette, and so on); optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM andEEPROM); flash memory; and so on.

The present disclosure recognizes that personal information data,including biometric data, in the present technology, can be used to thebenefit of users. For example, the use of biometric authentication datacan be used for convenient access to device features without the use ofpasswords. In other examples, user biometric data is collected forproviding users with feedback about their health or fitness levels.Further, other uses for personal information data, including biometricdata, that benefit the user are also contemplated by the presentdisclosure.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the entitiesresponsible for the collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage,or other use of such personal information data will comply withwell-established privacy policies and/or privacy practices. Inparticular, such entities should implement and consistently use privacypolicies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting orexceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining personalinformation data private and secure, including the use of dataencryption and security methods that meets or exceeds industry orgovernment standards. For example, personal information from usersshould be collected for legitimate and reasonable uses of the entity andnot shared or sold outside of those legitimate uses. Further, suchcollection should occur only after receiving the informed consent of theusers. Additionally, such entities would take any needed steps forsafeguarding and securing access to such personal information data andensuring that others with access to the personal information data adhereto their privacy policies and procedures. Further, such entities cansubject themselves to evaluation by third parties to certify theiradherence to widely accepted privacy policies and practices.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data, including biometric data. That is, thepresent disclosure contemplates that hardware and/or software elementscan be provided to prevent or block access to such personal informationdata. For example, in the case of biometric authentication methods, thepresent technology can be configured to allow users to optionally bypassbiometric authentication steps by providing secure information such aspasswords, personal identification numbers (PINS), touch gestures, orother authentication methods, alone or in combination, known to those ofskill in the art. In another example, users can select to remove,disable, or restrict access to certain health-related applicationscollecting users' personal health or fitness data.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the specificembodiments described herein are presented for purposes of illustrationand description. They are not targeted to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings.

What is claimed is:
 1. A guidance device for a sensory impaired user,comprising: an input/output touch surface; a sensor data component thatobtains data regarding an environment around the guidance device; and aprocessing unit, coupled to the input/output touch surface and thesensor data component, that: generates a model of the environment basedat least on the data; maps the model to the input/output touch surface;and provides tactile output to a user based at least on the mapping viathe input/output touch surface.
 2. The guidance device of claim 1,wherein the tactile output comprises an arrangement of raised portionsof the input/output touch surface or other tactile feedback configuredto produce a tactile sensation of bumps.
 3. The guidance device of claim1, wherein the tactile output includes a representation of an object inthe environment and a region of the input/output touch surface where therepresentation is provided corresponds to positional informationregarding the object.
 4. The guidance device of claim 3, wherein thepositional information regarding the object corresponding to the regionis first positional information when the tactile output includes a firstpositional information context indicator and second positionalinformation when the tactile output includes a second positionalinformation context indicator.
 5. The guidance device of claim 3,wherein a shape of the representation is associated with a detectedshape of the object.
 6. The guidance device of claim 1, wherein thesensor data component receives at least a portion of the data fromanother electronic device.
 7. The guidance device of claim 1, whereinthe processing unit provides at least one audio notification based atleast on the model via an audio component of the guidance device oranother electronic device.
 8. An assistance device for a sensoryimpaired user, comprising: a surface operable to detect touch andprovide tactile output; a sensor that detects information about anenvironment; and a processing unit, coupled to the surface and thesensor, that: determines a portion of the surface being touched; selectsa subset of the information for output; and provides the tactile outputto a user corresponding to the subset of the information via the portionof the surface.
 9. The assistance device of claim 8, wherein the sensordetects orientation information regarding the assistance device and theprocessing unit provides the tactile output via the portion of thesurface according to the orientation information.
 10. The assistancedevice of claim 8, wherein the sensor detects location informationregarding the assistance device and the tactile output includes adirection indication associated with navigation to a destination. 11.The assistance device of claim 8, wherein the tactile output includes anindication of at least one of: a height of an object in the environment;that the object is traveling in a course that will connect with a user;or that the user is approaching the object and the object is below ahead height of the user.
 12. The assistance device of claim 8, whereinthe tactile output includes a first representation of a first objectlocated in a direction of travel of the assistance device and a secondrepresentation of a second object located in an opposite direction ofthe direction of travel.
 13. The assistance device of claim 12, whereinregions of the portion of the surface where the first representation andthe second representation are provided indicate that the first object islocated in the direction of travel and the second object is located inthe opposite direction of the direction of travel.
 14. The assistancedevice of claim 8, wherein the tactile output includes a representationof an object in the environment and a texture of the representation isassociated with a detected texture of the object.
 15. The assistancedevice of claim 8, wherein the processing unit provides an audionotification via an audio component upon determining that the assistancedevice experiences a fall event during use.
 16. An environmentalexploration device, comprising: a cylindrical housing; a processing unitlocated within the cylindrical housing; a touch sensing device, coupledto the processing unit, positioned over the cylindrical housing; ahaptic device, coupled to the processing unit, positioned adjacent tothe touch sensing device; and an image sensor, coupled to the processingunit, that detects image data about an area around the cylindricalhousing; wherein the processing unit: analyzes the image data usingimage recognition to identify an object; creates an output imagerepresenting the object and positional information regarding the objectin the area; maps the output image to the haptic device; and providesthe output image as tactile output to a user via the haptic device. 17.The environmental exploration device of claim 16, wherein the hapticdevice comprises piezoelectric cells.
 18. The environmental explorationdevice of claim 16, wherein the processing unit provides an audiodescription of the object and the positional information via an audiocomponent.
 19. The environmental exploration device of claim 16, whereinthe processing unit determines details of a hand of the user that istouching the touch sensing device and maps the output image to thehaptic device in accordance with whether the hand is a left hand of theuser, a right hand of the user, has a large palm size, has a small palmsize, has less than four fingers, or does not have a thumb.
 20. Theenvironmental exploration device of claim 16, further comprising aweight component coupled to the cylindrical housing operable to alter anorientation of the environmental exploration device.
 21. Theenvironmental exploration device of claim 16, wherein the processingunit receives detected speech and provides a tactile representation ofthe detected speech via the haptic device.